Money Morals: Is it OK to steal firewood from the woods?

By This Is Money  
Money Morals is our popular new feature, where we provoke online debate with a modern money dilemma from. Send your questions to editor@thisismoney.co.uk

The dilemma
I heat my home and cook my meals using a combination of solar panels and a biomass (wood burning) boiler.
I benefit from the full feed-in rebate - the Government subsidy for the energy I generate and sell to the National Grid - and my wood has been provided free of charge for more than 10 years from a local business.
My energy bill is roughly £15 - a year.
I used the bulk of my savings when I retired to pay for the new heating system and more recently the installation of solar panels as a way of insulating myself against future rises in the cost of electricity and gas. 
The problem is that my wood supplier shut down last year and my reserves are dwindling.
But there's woods at the back of my house and I've started foraging and stockpiling, which is technically illegal. 
I know my actions make me a thief but it's only a bit of wood and no one need ever know. The bankers and advisers who stole my pension still walk the earth unchallenged but I am a little concerned about the scale of my operation. It takes a lot of wood to keep an old man warm. 
May I ask your readers for their views on whether I can continue to forage with a clear conscience or must I now buy what I cannot afford for legal reasons?    

The solution

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